Fifty years after man’s first steps on the moon, the future of human exploration in the final frontier is at a critical turning point. American leadership in space is more important than ever and, importantly, it remains one of the few issues that transcends the partisan divide. The Trump administration and lawmakers in both parties have shown a commitment to human exploration in space and the policies needed to maintain America’s advantage.The Trump administration has prioritized an acceleration of America’s space exploration program, with the ambitious vision of returning astronauts to the moon’s South Pole by 2024 and establishing a sustainable human presence by 2028 using NASA’s new deep space exploration systems, the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion crew vehicle.On Monday, the administration showed its commitment to these goals by requesting an extra $1.6 billion for NASA in next year’s budget.Since coming into office, the president has laid the groundwork for this visionary plan which can be seen through the revival of the National Space Council. Under the leadership of vice president Mike Pence, the National Space Council has centralized coordination of national space policy and new focus on defense and exploration priorities in ...